Ed O’Donnell got from 24 to 222 votes in the seven times he ran in the primary for president
OCEAN CITY — Edward T. O’Donnell Jr., a part-time Ocean City resident, amassed 493 votes for president of the United States over 32 years in seven New Hampshire primaries.
In archives provided by nh.electionstats.com, here’s a history of O’Donnell’s showing in the Granite State’s Democratic presidential primaries compared to the other less-known candidates and the ones who went on to earn the nomination.
— In 1984, O’Donnell’s first foray into presidential politics, he earned 74 votes. Gary Hart was the winner with more than 37,000 votes. O’Donnell earned more votes than 10 other candidates, but fewer than 12 others, including the well-known candidates such as eventual nominee Walter Mondale, Jesse Jackson, John Glenn and Ronald Reagan (a Republican).
— O’Donnell was back in 1988, getting 33 votes in an even larger field. Eventual nominee Michael Dukakis won that year with more than 44,000 votes.
— O’Donnell had his worst showing in 1992 with 24 votes, the second-lowest total of even the minor candidates. Paul Tsongas outpolled Bill Clinton to win with 55,663. Clinton, the eventual nominee, received 41,450.
— O’Donnell is not on the ballot in 1996. There were eight minor candidates who earned from 1 to 5 votes at the bottom of the tally. Clinton won with more than 76,000 votes.
— O’Donnell was back in 2000, getting 35 votes. That year, eventual nominee Al Gore edged Bill Bradley 76,897 to 70,502.
— 2004 was a big jump for O’Donnell. He was near the top of a big field of lesser-known candidates, earning 79 votes — ahead of 24 others. Eventual nominee John Kerry won the primary with more than 84,000 votes. Other candidates included Howard Dean, Wesley Clark and John Edwards.
— O’Donnell was not on the ballot in 2008 when Hillary Clinton got just more than 112,000 votes to eventual nominee Barack Obama’s 104,000. O’Donnell’s friend, performance artist Vermin Love Supreme, who wears a boot for a hat, made an appearance on the ballot but earned 0 votes.
— 2012 was O’Donnell’s biggest year, when he received 222 votes, ahead of most of the other little-known candidates. Obama won with more than 49,000.
— In 2016, the last year he was on the ballot, O’Donnell earned 26 votes, better than about 10 others. That year, Bernie Sanders won with 152,181 to Hillary Clinton’s 95,324. Vermin Supreme was fourth overall in the balloting with 265 votes.
— In 2020, Bernie Sanders won, beating Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar and eventual nominee Joe Biden. Sanders had more than 76,000 votes. Biden, just fewer than 25,000.
— In 2024, Biden won easily, basically uncontested.
– By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff